Page 103 of Sweeper
“Hey, man, you good?” he asks, adjusting the straps on his keeper gloves.
I bend over and stretch out my hamstrings. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“You’ve been quiet at training the past couple of days.” I look up and see he’s watching me with a serious look on his face.
“Has my performance suffered?” I snap, my tone overly defensive.
“No,” Booker volleys, his head tilting in challenge. “You’ve been killing it on the pitch. I’m just checking in with you. I heard about you and Daphney.”
“Not you too,” I growl and stand to face him toe-to-toe. “I don’t need another Harris pushing in on my life, okay?”
Booker cocks his head to the side and refuses to back down. “Well, just bloody well fix it because Daphney is like family to us. If you need a Harris shakedown to get your head on straight, that can be arranged.”
“Family?” I snap, my rage boiling over as I clench my fists and use every muscle in my body not to freak the fuck out on him right now. “Don’t you talk to me about Daphney orfamily. Got it?”
Booker huffs out a laugh of disgust, his brows furrowed as he backs away. “Sorry for bloody well caring.”
He turns around and takes his spot back by the net while I look forward to focus on what I came here to do.
Daphney
This was a stupid idea, I think to myself as I sit in the nosebleed section of Tower Park field with Jane Williams beside me, waiting for the players to come onto the pitch.
Originally, I thought I wouldn’t have to come to the game, but Jane wasn’t comfortable coming to the match alone, and I can’t say I blame her. This is her first time at a FA Cup match. And her son isn’t currently speaking to her. The woman is holding on by a very thin thread, and I dare say, she’s in good company.
I’ve been a nervous wreck ever since I helped Jane change her flight home and extend her hotel stay for a few more nights. I kept waiting for Zander to figure out what I’d done and show up at Old George to scream at me for interfering in his life. It was a stupid, stupid thing to do. Phoebe told me it was stupid about forty-seven times in forty-seven minutes. I know it’s stupid!
Especially because the entire Harris crew is in attendance down toward the first row. This is a quarterfinal game, so everyone is here for support. It’s hard to make them all out, but I’m pretty sure I spot Gareth and his wife, Sloan. Poppy and Allie, plus Belle, Vi, and Hayden. I think even Camden managed to attend since Arsenal was knocked out of the tournament by Bethnal Green a couple of weeks back. I even spot Mac and Freya’s red hair from up here, and they look like they’re sitting with Santino and Tilly. Honestly, it’s no wonder I struggled to find decent tickets today. The Harris family has booked out most of the stadium.
I kept my hood up throughout the concourse on the off chance I ran into one of them. If Zander finds out that I dragged his mum here and potentially exposed her to the whole Harris crew, he will hate the ground I walk on. Which maybe wouldn’t be a bad thing because no matter how hard it was seeing him hurting the other day, I still haven’t forgotten what he did to me.
I’m not here for Zander today. I’m here for his mum.
Jane looked so sad and alone that day at Old George. I couldn’t let her stubborn arse of a son send her home without even the tiniest bit of closure. Maybe if Jane can connect with Zander after the game and he sees she put forth a bit of effort, he’ll find it in his heart to forgive her.
“Is there no one that comes around with alcohol?” Jane asks, pulling her coat tight over her Bethnal Green kit that I helped her pick out in the shops outside. “My nerves are shot.”
“No alcohol in the stands, I’m afraid.”
She scoffs and adjusts her matching Bethnal Green stocking cap. “Yet another reason I never attended any soccer games when I lived here years ago. That and…I don’t really care much for soccer.”
My brows lift. “Really? All those years Zander played, you never warmed to the game?”
She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. “Not the game, no. But I was always very proud of Zander, of course. Cried every time I saw him come onto the field. He just looks so grown-up in his uniform, and no matter how many times I see him, I can’t help but marvel at the fact that I created that little man.”
A smile spreads across my face. “He is pretty special,” I state, feeling a pain slice through me at that remark.
Her chin trembles. “I just hope he can forgive me.”
“He will,” I say, reaching around and rubbing her back affectionately. “He’s had a couple of days to cool off, now.”
Jane licks her lips and nods. “You know, I went to Vaughn Harris’s house to tell him I was pregnant.”
My lips part in shock. “You did?”
“I never got around to telling Zander that part.”
“What happened?” I can’t help but ask. Despite myself, I still care about him.
